function allDatesToCheck = subdivide_files_by_date(ds,startt,endt)
   %SUBDIVIDE_FILES_BY_DATE given a datasource and daterange return list of files
   % datesToCheck = subdivide_files_by_date(ds,startt,endt)
   
   %maxDateBins is currently unused
   maxDateBins = 1000; %maximum number of files to be returned
   
   startt = datenum(startt);
   endt = datenum(endt);
   startVec = datevec(startt);
   endVec = datevec(endt);
   fn = getfilename(ds,[],[]);
   fn = fn{1};
   
   changes = [any(findstr(fn,'[YEAR]')),any(findstr(fn,'[MONTH]')),...
      any(findstr(fn,'[DAY]')) || any(findstr(fn,'[JDAY]')),...
      any(findstr(fn,'[HOUR]')), any(findstr(fn,'[MINUTE]')),...
      any(findstr(fn,'[SECOND]'))];
   %which aspect changes?
   %changes = startVec ~= endVec;
   minchange = find(changes,1,'last');
   if isempty(minchange)
      minchange = 0;
   end
   
   allDatesToCheck = [];
   
   for timesnip = 1:numel(startt)
      thisstart = startt(timesnip);
      thisend =  endt(timesnip);
      thisStartVec = startVec(timesnip,:);
      thisEndVec = endVec(timesnip,:);
      switch minchange
         case 1; %year
            
            datesToCheck = datenum(thisStartVec(1):thisEndVec(1),1,1,0,0,0);
         case 2; %month
            nmonths = (thisEndVec(1)*24 + thisEndVec(2)) -(thisStartVec(1)*24 + thisStartVec(2)) + 1;
            datesToCheck = datenum(thisStartVec(1),thisStartVec(2)+(0:nmonths-1),1,0,0,0);
         case 3; %day
            datesToCheck = floor(thisstart):1:floor(thisend);
         case 4; %hour
            datesToCheck = datenum(thisStartVec(1),thisStartVec(2),thisStartVec(3),thisStartVec(4),0,0):datenum(0,0,0,1,0,0):thisend;
         case 5; %minute
            datesToCheck = datenum(thisStartVec(1),thisStartVec(2),thisStartVec(3),thisStartVec(4),thisStartVec(5),0):datenum(0,0,0,0,1,0):thisend;
         case 6; %second
            datesToCheck = thisstart:datenum(0,0,0,0,0,1):thisend;
         case 0; %nothing
            datesToCheck = thisstart;
      end %switch
      datesToCheck = datesToCheck(datesToCheck < thisend);
      allDatesToCheck = [allDatesToCheck(:); datesToCheck(:)];
   end %timesnip
   
   allDatesToCheck = unique(allDatesToCheck);
end